BACKGROUND: Drug overdose is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among persons who inject drugs (PWID). We assessed factors associated with the non-fatal drug overdose among PWID in three Croatian cities and national trends of overdose-related mortality (OM), and rates of uptake of opioid agonist drug treatment (OAT). METHODS: We used a respondent-driven sampling method to recruit 830 PWID in Zagreb, Split and Rijeka in 2014/2015. Participants completed behavioural questionnaires that included questions about overdose history, and we used Poisson regression to assess factors associated with self-reported overdose...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to quantify opioid prescriptions dispensed from primary care practices throughout England and investigate its association with socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: This cross-sectional study used publicly available data in 2015, including practice-level dispensing data and characteristics of registrants from the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service Digital, and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) data from Department of Communities and Local Government...

BACKGROUND: Night time entertainment districts (NEDs) are predominantly frequented by youth who drink alcohol before and after entry. Centres where people binge drink alcohol make use of emergency services at a greater rate than those places where alcohol is not present. Previous UK government research suggests that lengthening the hours for alcohol sales has led to a spreading of emergency service use across the night, with services required later in the night. In Queensland, the State Government has introduced more restrictive opening hours for alcohol sales in NEDs and we predicted earlier use of crisis services and, with a large preloading culture, similar or more service use...

The majority of qualitative social scientific research on the topic of parenthood and substance use focuses on mothers who use illicit drugs and their experiences of social marginalization and stigmatization. This commentary argues that new and important insights might be gained about parenting in the context of substance use by engaging more closely with everyday experiences of mothering and with contemporary theorising around motherhood and parenthood. Drawing on recent sociological studies of family life influenced by late-modern individualism and by new expert attention on the quality of parent-child relationships, the commentary proposes directions for future social research on the identities and experiences of mothers and fathers who use alcohol and other drugs...

BACKGROUND: It will be essential to find novel ways to access, diagnose and treat people with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection in Australia to achieve HCV elimination. AIM: We assessed the effectiveness of opportunistic HCV assessment and antiviral treatment in patients admitted to hospital for other reasons. METHODS: Patients with HCV infection were referred from inpatient services at a tertiary referral centre in Sydney. Patients were assessed for HCV treatment with transient elastography (TE), HCV genotype and a clinical assessment and a summary letter was generated for all patients with a general practitioner (GP)...

BACKGROUND: Patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are a priority target for HCV treatment. The simplicity and efficacy of direct-acting antivirals (DAA) should help overcome patient, provider, and structural barriers to scaling up treatment. METHODS: We estimated between-centre variation in DAA treatment uptake among 1734 patients enrolled at the 18 centres of the Canadian Co-Infection Cohort-a prospective cohort of adults co-infected with HIV and HCV...

With the aim of analyzing relationships between photography, empathy, viewing contexts, and circulation, this article examines two case studies where contemporary photographers have depicted injection drug users over a period. It uses Gruen's theory of entangled empathy, a way of practicing empathy that derives from an ethics of care, to analyze them. In the online series The Faces of Addiction, 2011-2015, Chris Arnade documented the lives of several subjects in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx, New York City...

BACKGROUND: Discrimination can be a daily issue in the lives of people who inject drugs (PWID). However, the extent to which discrimination is related to the health of PWID remains unclear. METHODS: Data focusing on discrimination against PWID and potential health correlates were collected as part of the 2013 Illicit Drug Reporting System, a national survey with 887 PWID recruited in all Australian states and territories. Experience of discrimination, its setting, perceived reason and outcome, were self-reported by participants...

BACKGROUND: In the United States (U.S.), higher levels of acculturation have been associated with higher rates of heavy alcohol use more consistently among Latino women than among Latino men. This paper explores mechanisms underlying the link between acculturation and alcohol use among Latino/as in the U.S. We examine alcohol use expectancies and motives from the perspectives of the social cognitive theory of gender development. METHODS: Qualitative narratives data from six focus groups of individuals (total n = 37), who met criteria for heavy drinking (4/5 drinks/occasion for females/males), were examined separately by gender (18 females; 19 males)...

BACKGROUND: Due to misinformation and enduring discourses about pregnant women and mothers suspected of using drugs, these women continue to experience systemic discrimination. In 2014, this fact was once again made public in Canada when the Ontario government established an independent review of hair testing practices conducted by Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory (MDTL) at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Kids. Between 2005 and 2015, MDTL tested the hair of more than 16,000 individuals for drug consumption...

BACKGROUND: In Cambodia, HIV infection remains high among female entertainment and sex workers (FESW) and the use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is an independent risk factor for unprotected sex and sexually transmitted infections among this group. For decades public health approaches to HIV prevention in low and middle income countries (LMIC) have attempted to target the macro-power relations that shape risk behaviour with structural interventions. Recent research has highlighted that interventions that combine ATS risk reduction, in the form of financial incentives for abstinence, with existing HIV prevention programmes, may also play an important role...

BACKGROUND: Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States (U.S.). Previous studies have found that place of drug use is associated with risks including overdose, sharing of drug use equipment, and arrest, but the research on this subject in the U.S. is limited. METHODS: Our study describes the relationship between place of drug use and health outcomes through the analysis of associations between frequent public drug use and drug-related arrest, overdose, and reuse of injection equipment...

BACKGROUND: The relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and substance use is not well understood. We conducted a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies to explore how substance use features in survivors' and perpetrators' accounts of IPV perpetration. METHODS: Qualitative studies from 1995 to 2016 were identified from PsycINFO, ASSIA and Web of Science, with an update in PsycINFO and ASSIA to December 2017. 7654 abstracts were screened for accounts of heterosexual IPV perpetration, then full-texts were screened for mentions of substance use...

BACKGROUND: Police violence is a deleterious public health and criminal justice issue that disproportionately affects people who inject drugs (PWID). Studies documenting the prevalence and correlates of physical police violence in this population are rare. The aim of this study was to examine the correlates of past year physical police violence among an urban sample of PWID. METHODS: PWID participating in the 2015 wave of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system in Baltimore City, Maryland, completed a socio-behavioral survey...

Numerous studies have suggested that MDMA can cause neurocognitive deficits. However, the available data can only suggest an association - rather than a causal relationship - between MDMA use and neurocognitive deficits. The reliability and robustness of this association was evaluated using Bradford Hill's criteria for determining causation in epidemiology research. Several limitations in the literature were found. Studies have recruited people who abuse ecstasy - an illicit drug that does not always contain MDMA...

BACKGROUND: Ascertaining the acceptability of healthcare provision to service users is an important factor in promoting service uptake, especially for populations who are reluctant to access care. This study identified the attributes of a Hepatitis C (HCV) testing service for people prescribed Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) and used their expressed preferences to guide design of a service, using an applied health economics approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preferences of OST users were elicited using a discrete choice experiment...

Background Crackdowns on urban sites with concentrated criminal activity are sometimes followed by geographical relocation of crime. Is this also the case in cyberspace, where illegal websites and online networks can be wiped clean, but also quickly rebuilt and replaced on new servers and URLs? Methods I address this question in three steps. First, I measure MDMA trade in a large digital market for drugs, before and after the arrest of a leading MDMA seller in the same market. Second, I count the number of available digital drug markets and vendor shops in the period February 2014-June 2018, to see if websites closed by police were replaced by new ones...

BACKGROUND: In Australia and elsewhere, the impacts of drug prohibition have sparked a critical dialogue about the state of current drug laws. While a range of 'experts' have offered their opinion and participation in these deliberations, the voices of the affected community have largely been excluded. This study aimed to gather the opinions and preferences of people who use drugs about the current or alternative models of drug laws, in addition to how they think drug laws could be changed Author Conflict of Interest Declaration...

BACKGROUND: This qualitative study explores the stories of young urban poor Filipino family members living with recovering parental drug users who turn themselves in to local authorities and completed theKatatagan Kontra Droga sa Komunidad (KKDK). This is a community-based rehabilitation program during the Philippine government's anti-illegal drugs campaign. METHODS: Young urban poor family members living with parental drug use were interviewed (n = 13) and asked to narrate their experiences of parental drug use, surrender, and recovery...